AutoCAD New Upgrade Policy

"As I understand it, when my annual maintenance subscription runs out each year, if I don't pay the large annual fee, which I think is $1,000 for my AutoCAD single seat, I can never upgrade it if I am late."

And you better believe they won't cut a one-seater any slack either, the greedy bastards. :-O

$1,000 for an AutoCAD seat's maintenance seems high, isn' t more like $600?

I posted to this topic on 02-24-14 with info from an AutoDesk re-seller.
It's all about the profit margin. A'desk will keep raising subscription fees and product costs as long as there are clients willing to pay, again and again.

Sort of sounds like what surveyors should do.

It is one of those crimes in America that not only goes unpunished, but is touted as good business.

I have only one appliance in my house that runs on natural gas, the central heat. Use to be I had zero usage for seven or eight months of the year and my monthly statement reflected so with a zero balance.

Now, thanks to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, I pay $30 bucks a month as a "customer usage fee" whether I burn any gas or not. The maintenance of the infrastructure use to be built into the cost of the product. Laws have been passed nowadays that allow companies to turn a product into a greedy profit pump.

Same with Autodesk. If this trend continues, after a 45K investment, Topcon is going to charge me annually, just for being a customer....sheeezzz :bored:

> Sort of sounds like what surveyors should do.

Exactly!

And Autodesk has been making it clear for years they they would eventually move to subscription only.

As far as the cost, I think it it quite reasonable - it's powerful software that I use on every single job - I don't care what it costs (almost!) as long as it makes me money.

I've been on subscription for years. I think last year was about $550 or so.

You've got to spend money to make money...

"it's powerful software that I use on every single job "

99.9% of my work could be done in AutoCAD 10 DOS. Plus I could write my own lisp and use free lisp from others. Some of the features available then have been stripped from the built in Carlson AutoCAD because they were deemed too useful by Autodesk.

Paul in PA

"it's powerful software that I use on every single job "

True - but as you fall behind with the age of your software, running on an old operating system, you can lose out on other things, like new features, the ability to swap files with others or even to run other modern software. I think the better strategy is to keep up.

And I should know - I have done that before! I ran Autocad R12 DOS on an OS/2 machine until the mid-2000s. It ran great and did everything (I thought) that I needed. But I couldn't read other people's files, and didn't even know about things that newer versions could do that can make your drafting life easier (insert images or use wipeouts, for example). Even though the current versions of Autocad are bloated and more complex than needed for land surveying, I would never go back.

I did not know that the embedded version doesn't have LISP support though; that would be a deal breaker for me. One more reason to use the full version!

Readin Oher Files Is A Separate Problem To Be Addressed

Back in AutoCAD 1o days had an independent program called "Backdraft" It could change AutCAD.dwg versions in seconds. Autodesk bought "Backdraft" out and it was gone forever.

Paul in PA

Golly mercy! I wish I had a dollar for the many times I have b..tched about renewal type fees. I'll say it once again, "if I buy a hammer down at the HomeDepot do I have to renew every year? NO.
If I had another dollar for how many times I've been asked to write the "ultimate" cad package and be done with all these others... well, I'd be a VERY WEALTHY hermit not living where I am now.
I know who tried this endeavor and he got made an offer he couldn't refuse. Can't blame him really.
If someone wants to foot the bill I'm all in. I have about a half-dozen fellers all with mostly all surveying backgrounds I could hit up right now.

We need to start issuing our plats on a subscription only basis. "This plat expires on December 31, 2014, to keep it valid requires a $500 annual renewal fee. A late fee will also be charged for any renewal application submitted after the expiration date."

$1,000 is what, $0.50 an hour over the course of a year? Raise your rates a buck an hour, pass the cost onto the clients, and pay yourself a bonus for having to deal with Autodesk.

On the plus side¹ a software subscription is similar to a lease, the subscription fee is an operating expense that is tax deductible as it occurs rather than a software purchase which would be handled as a capital expense and capitalized and amortized over three years.

¹The poster is not a tax advisor. All decisions regarding the tax implications of any business purchase should be made in consultation with your independent tax advisor. The poster does not provide tax or legal advice. This material is not intended to replace the advice of a qualified tax advisor, attorney or accountant. Consultation with the appropriate professional should be done before any financial commitments regarding the issues related to the situation are made.

I side with Autocad and Trimble on this. They are not in business to give stuff away.

I don't have a problem with Autodesk making money, and I don't have a problem with them charging annual maintenance. My gripe is that they won't let you upgrade if you ride it for more than a year without upgrading, and that nobody is really competing with them in my market.

I realize that it takes a lot to support software. I was just wishing that Intellicad would get more stable and give them some competition. When I bought AutCAD I was not aware that they could suddenly change their subscription qualifications.

I also agree that $1,000 a year is generally a pretty small cost in the scheme of things. The more Acad makes the happier I am for them; no problem with that. Just trying to do the same thing for myself.

I don't like spending the $1k/seat per year but I do like that most of our clients will now be using the latest release (same as us) and I don't need five previous version on my computer to match what they need.

Recently upgraded to 2015 C3D and it does have a few new features that make life a little simpler.

"it's powerful software that I use on every single job "

True - but as you fall behind with the age of your software, running on an old operating system, you can lose out on other things, like new features, the ability to swap files with others or even to run other modern software. I think the better strategy is to keep up.

Not to mention clients

Robert,

That is good point.

But I imagine it might even work in reverse. People will just opt out of the higher cost of keeping up and keep their old stuff. No telling what will happen. I think it gives a booster shot to the likes of Carlson, especially at a time when Version 8 of Intellicad is coming out.

I also imagine that I will continue to gripe but will stay with Acad. And I guess that is part of the logic of why Autodesk is doing what they are if I am even close to being in the norm for small business. I can't see big business leaving Acad.

Maybe all of this just boils down to me being a tightwad. 🙂
$1,000 is small in the scheme of things I guess.

I agree with you in your opening comment. As much as I like AutoCAD and don't mind too much paying the yearly, I find it pretty lame that a company that provides a great product is not more flexible in its licensing agreement. This forced subscription with no chance of upgrading from a recent version is a money grab; pure and simple.

If a company is doing mostly boundary surveys and not preparing cad files for engineers I see no reason to even buy C3D. Carlson will do everything you need and perhaps even easier than C3D. The only catch with design files is none of the engineering/arch firms can work with crd point files and most want the embedded autocad points you get in C3D. The guys here preparing boundary surveys and construction layout use Carlson and the ones doing the route surveys and topos use C3D. We jump back and forth all the time with no problem.